"As evident for more than two decades, we have practised a de facto moratorium on the execution of death penalty for cases under the common law. This will also be applied to cases under the SPCO which provides a wider scope for remission."

Though Brunei retains the death penalty in law, it has not carried out an execution for decades.

And while harsh anti-gay laws remain in place, observers have been scrambling to unpack what might have prompted the sudden and very public clarification — here are a few possibilities.

Brunei acts ahead of United Nations review

The Sultan's announcement comes ahead of Brunei's appearance before the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council this Friday. At the reviews member states examine a country's human rights record over the past four years.

Four days after the SPCO was introduced, Brunei's Minister for Foreign Affairs Erywan Pehin Yusof wrote to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to defend the policy, claiming the sharia criminal code was "more focused on prevention than punishment".

According to Paula Gerber, director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, "the Sultan is looking at being able to say 'hey, lay off, we've changed our mind on this, we are now not going to have the death penalty'."

"But we shouldn't all be clapping and cheering because he hasn't repealed the law," she told the ABC.

"It is still a crime to be gay in Brunei, it is still a crime to commit adultery, to have an abortion."

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, however, these efforts would enjoy only "limited success" and the energy sector would "continue to dominate the economy", with Brunei's real GDP forecast to grow just 1.4 per cent in 2019-20.

Brunei has been trying to boost tourism, but with STA Travel ceasing to sell tickets via the country and other Royal Brunei Airlines partners under pressure to cut ties, that could be at risk.

London has also removed advertisements promoting Brunei as a tourist destination from the city's public transport network.